Ommegang Gnomegang

I have lots of respect for the brewing powers of both Ommegang and Achouffe. The later is one of my favorite Belgian brewers and the former has a knack for making unique and imaginative beers. I unfortunately do not drink Ommegang beers all that often due to their price. Luckily for me my sister, who has some excellent taste, went ahead and brought this $14.99 bottle of beer home while we were both visiting and needed someone to share it with.

I think the description from the Ommegang website best does this beer fitting justice, "a rich, translucent gold, with a big, fluffy white head". That sounds better than my notes of, "gold, pretty, white head", I think. The aroma was very belgian with mountains of yeast and spice rising up. I could make out apple, pear, and clove. Often beers are referred to as complex but all of the different flavors that dart to and fro on your tongue from this beer make me think the word is a bit over used. I found it interesting how it was slightly sour but still oddly sweet. There were flavors of sour apple, crab apple, pear, chestnut, clove, yeast, and general fruitiness. My sister said she could taste gooseberry too. I loved how the 9.5% alcohol was not noticeable at all. All of the different subtleties of this beer came together in one very unsubtle and amazing package. I think this beer would hold up well against the finest of Belgian ales ... and who doesn't enjoy a good pun in a beer's name!